Value overstated of assessed S.C.

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34123, 8 April 1976, Page 23

Value overstated of assessed S.C.

Arguments recentlyput forward in favour of internal assessment for School Certificate have overstated the case against the present examination system. The former system, like the legal system, has the disadvantage that anyone can sec its weakness; to devise a satisfactory substitute for one that has stood the test of time and has been on the whole a useful measur-: ing stick is a different matter. Internal assessment also has pitfalls of which the public should be aware, in order to make a balanced judgment. First, the reason for change is not entirely’ to make a “better" instrument for testing. Many very competent people refuse to mark papers as the financial return is eroded by taxation, so that the standard of marking is not as high as it might be. Even such mundane matters as Post Office delays have encouraged a search for an alternative that is partly based on ex-1 pediency rather than idealism.

Second, as a measuring, stick of competency in academic, commercial, and manual subjects. School Certificate has been fairly reliable. Performance in that examination has been a good guide to performance in Form VI and subsequently, as research by university liaison officers have proved. Tnird, the actual percentages obtained in School Certificate are used by the department as a base for determining awards of Form VI certificate, which is becoming firmly established and might be the only award at that level if University Entrance is moved to Form VII. as is likely. Should internal assessment be introduced, all the work done in bringing this new Form VI certificate into a practicable shape would be wasted. Fourth, the thorny 7 problem of maintaining standards, not only’ between subjects but also between schools, remains prickly. If widespread testing is introduced to achieve this standardisation, as happened in Queensland, a number of minor examinations are substituted for one major, and

the pressures on pupils are proportionatley increased. Fifth, the reply’ to criticism that teachers might succumb to various pressures in the award of grades — that this accusation is an insult to their professional competence — does not impress. Teachers are only human and when accrediting for University Entrance was introduced in 1945, there was the odd scandal and allegation, although that system had checks in' the way! of a back-up examination and subsequent university: performance, which would be lacking in a system based on internal assessment. A claim that educational as well as legal and medical ! “Watergates” are impossible in today’s society would be naive. Sixth, there is the claim that internal assessment would enable teachers tos assess qualities that are nonexaminable. This claim needs! very careful investigation. For instance, if moral qualities are referred to, it should be remembered that teachers are not gods and their ability to assess a student’s! present and future moral standing is likely to contain

far more serious errors of \ judgment than any examination. If internal assessment ! based on obedience, peri sistence, and initiative in a classroom were to be used by- employers, many of our I finest citizens would be still 1 at the bottom of the ladder. | There are, no doubt, re-! ' stricted areas in which internal assessment can be of lvalue and these should be carefully defined. The point ! is that we should try to get 'the best of both worlds and this is where our ability to ■ compromise should be exer- | cised to the full. New Zealand teachers have the abilI ity to do this — if they are left alone. By 7 Mr V. F. Wilkinson, who has been a teacher at Christchurch Boys’ High School for the last 36 years.